In59seconds - How to fall asleep

Short Summary

Main recommendation: If you struggle to fall asleep, try deliberately staying awake, which can make you fall asleep faster. In a University of Glasgow study, insomniacs asked to keep their eyes open and stay awake for as long as possible fell asleep more quickly than the control group over two weeks.

Key Points

• The approach is a form of reverse psychology: rather than trying to sleep, you try to stay awake.
• The evidence comes from researchers at the University of Glasgow, who split insomniacs into two groups and monitored their sleep for 2 weeks.
• The effect is attributed to tiredness: trying to stay awake is tiring, so the group that tried to keep their eyes open fell asleep quicker.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: Lie in bed each night and try to stay awake for as long as possible. Keep your eyes open, you may blink, and do not watch television, use a computer, or move around.
• Concrete instructions: Repeat this each night when you are struggling to sleep, rather than trying to force sleep.
• The study group was insomniacs, so the finding applies most directly to people with sleep difficulties.
• The comparison was with a second group of insomniacs, and the sleep of both groups was tracked over 2 weeks.
• The transcript does not give specific sample sizes, outcome measures, or how much faster the group fell asleep.

Bottom Line

Trying to stay awake in bed, eyes open and without screens, may help you fall asleep sooner when insomnia makes sleep hard to reach.